Create a Double Exposure Effect in Adobe Photoshop

In is tutorial I’ll show you how to create a double exposure effect using several stock images, masking and layer modes.

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Final Image

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Resources

• Man
• Landscape
• Birds

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Step 1

Create a new document in Photoshop with the settings below:

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Step 2

Open the man image. Drag this image into the white canvas as shown below:

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Step 3

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves and set it as Clipping Mask. Increase the light and hazy near to maximum:

On the mask of this layer, use a soft black brush to erase the man’s face and make the effect visible only at the edges:

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Step 4

Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to desaturate the man completely:

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Step 5

Place the landscape image into the working document:

Change the mode of this layer to Screen 100%:

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Step 6

Duplicate this layer and flip it vertically by choosing Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical:

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Step 7

Add a mask to these layers and use a soft black brush to reveal the man’s face more:

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Step 8

Select these layers and press Ctrl+G to make a group for them. Change the mode of this group to Screen 100%. Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer within this group to desaturate these layers:

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Step 9

There is an unwanted detail at the bottom of the image after flipping the landscape:

To fix it, make a new layer and pick a color similar to the background (I chose #bcbcbc). Paint on the indicated detail:

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Step 10

Come back to the man layer. Select this layer and the clipped Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Right click and choose Duplicate Layers. Move them above all layers.

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Step 11

Change this layer mode to Soft Light 100%:

Add a mask to this layer and use a soft black brush to reduce the man’s opacity on the lower half:

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Step 12

Make several layers and change the foreground to black. Use different bird brushes to paint randomly on these layers:

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And We’re Done!

I hope that you’ve enjoyed the tutorial.